


Haymitch's Victor(s?)

by TheWalkingGrimes



Series: Tales of District Four [14]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Some vague allusions to sex trafficking, Vive la Revolution, mentioned drug use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWalkingGrimes/pseuds/TheWalkingGrimes
Summary: Katniss is a phenomenon. Haymitch is just starting to grasp what that means.
Relationships: Haymitch Abernathy & Finnick Odair, Haymitch Abernathy & Katniss Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen & Finnick Odair
Series: Tales of District Four [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018845
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	Haymitch's Victor(s?)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct companion piece to [Haymitch's Turn.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27612928)

It’s nearing five o’clock in the morning when Finnick Odair strolls into the viewing room and sprawls out on a District Twelve chair like he belongs there.

“You know Haymitch, there have been studies about how sleep can affect your brain functioning and even your physical appearance - and how going without them can make you look about as shit as you do right now.”

Those studies must be true, because otherwise Haymitch would’ve heard him actually opening the door and wouldn’t be as startled by Finnick’s sudden appearance. He casts a grumpy _(sleep-deprived)_ look at the young man next to him, who is as fresh-faced as always.

“And yet you’re somehow this perky and annoying at this time of the night.” Haymitch grumbles.

Finnick laughs. “That is because the drugs my prep team gives me cost more than both of our houses combined. Sleep is for mortals, apparently.”

Well, that answers Haymitch’s question about what the fuck Finnick is doing here at this hour. He’s gotten used to the Victors who aren’t mentoring or whose Tributes are dead gathering around his screen, sucked into the story of the star-crossed lovers nearly as much as the people in the Capitol (even if they’ll never admit it). But usually once the anthem plays in the sky the rest of them head off to their own floors or to parties, and Haymitch is left to keep his silent vigil alone.

As they watch, Katniss starts awake. She blinks around the cave, scanning for a threat, then relaxes when she sees a squirrel darting off at the sight of her. As she snuggles back in closer to Peeta, she accidentally puts her hand a little too far down so that it brushes against the waistband of his pants. 

Katniss pulls her hand back like she burned it, setting it back down safely on Peeta’s chest. Her cheeks are still red as she drifts back to sleep.

Finnick snorts.

“Jo was right. She really _is_ innocent.”

If Haymitch didn’t know him better, he would think that it was just an offhand comment. But Victors often choose their words deliberately with each other, and a statement like that coming from Finnick is meaningful.

It doesn’t take much brainpower to figure out why.

“She is.” Haymitch agrees. “Luckily she seems to have found a boy who likes her for it.”

“Hopefully she gets to keep him. That leg isn’t looking too good. She might find herself coming out of there alone.”

“I’m doing my best to help her keep him.”

“Right, but if she can’t…” Finnick gives him a flat look that says, _c’mon we both know they’re not letting them both out of there alive._ “If she _can’t_ and she comes out of there alone, I just hope she gets to hold onto that innocence. People are very excited about her, you know.”

Haymitch’s gut twists. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about it. People in the Capitol love their star-crossed lovers, but Katniss? Katniss is a _phenomenon,_ who will become a living legend if she wins the Games. Likely equal to Finnick’s level of fame at the time of his victory. It won’t matter that she’s not as objectively attractive, or that she has all the charisma of a tree stump.

People will still want her.

“I’ll do my best with that too.” Haymitch says, even as it hits him, _really hits him,_ that he has no idea what to do with them even if he does get them out. The Games beyond the arena are a shadowy monster he doesn’t know how to play. 

He’s never really had to, since his cards were all taken from him in the first round.

“I can’t think about that right now though.” He admits, almost an apology. “The only thing I can focus on right now is getting them out. If I lose focus, I lose them.”

 _When it’s your turn,_ Mags had told him once, _you’ll understand._

“I get it.” Finnick tells him. Haymitch sees wild green eyes and fingernail scratches and water rushing out of a dam and knows that he does. “But if I can offer some advice? Whether you get one or both of them out, it’s better to have that conversation with them sooner rather than later. From what I can tell they usually wait until next year’s Games are over and the attention is on the new Victor.”

For a moment, Haymitch pictures trying to have that conversation with Katniss. He can see the betrayal swimming in her eyes, so young and bright in spite of their hardness, and feels sick at the thought of taking yet another thing from her.

“All the more reason to get both of them out.”

“Yeah.” Finnick looks over at the screen, at the sweet sight of Katniss asleep on Peeta’s chest and Haymitch swears he shivers. “Even so, that’s still a conversation you should have with both of them. Just in case. If they want something, they tend to not let petty things get in the way of it.”

Petty things. Like willingness. Or age. Or being in a relationship. 

For all Haymitch knows, that last one might be a selling point. 

As soon as that thought crosses his mind, he suppresses his own shiver. “Thanks for the warning.” 

“No problem. It’s not something anyone should be surprised by. Trust me.”

Haymitch hopes he’s talking about himself and not Annie. As far as he knows, Annie hasn’t been back to the Capitol since her Victory Tour, but Haymitch also knows there’s far more that goes on in the Capitol than he’ll ever see. 

He also knows that Finnick would fight like hell to stop anything like that from ever happening, and Haymitch feels abruptly grateful to realize that whatever happens with his kids if he gets them out of the arena, Finnick will be on their side.

“I do. Trust you.” 

A moment of genuine pleasant surprise crosses Finnick’s face - Haymitch realizes he’s probably never said that to him before. He’s never said that he _didn’t_ trust Finnick, but the kid has always been too good at reading people and there really was no way of hiding the way Haymitch couldn’t look at him for more than five seconds that first year without seeing it covered in Rooker’s blood. It just hadn’t occurred to him that Finnick would care enough about his opinion to take it personally. 

He thinks that the smile flashing on Finnick’s face might also be genuine. “Thanks. The feeling is mutual.” Something shifts in his expression and he says in a casual voice. “Oh, completely off-topic, but I’ve been asked by a Gamemaker’s assistant Fulvia Cardew to try and pin you down for a time that she can talk to you about Feast details.”

Haymitch groans, sinking his head on the desk. “Is _that_ why she keeps trying to call me? I’ve already told them everything they could possibly need to know about the medicine, what could be so important they need to drag me away right now?”

“I don’t know, but Fulvia isn’t the sort to waste time.” Finnick’s tone is playful but there’s something in his eyes that gives Haymitch pause. “Might do you some good to step out of this room anyway. Bit of fresh air and sunshine would work wonders for your complexion. And... if you took a shower that would be a gift to humanity in general, but especially those of us who have to sit near you.”

“Fuck off.” 

Finnick laughs again. It's tighter than before. “C’mon Haymitch, I can watch them, there’s nothing happening anyway. I promise I’ll call you if something does. Go get cleaned up, get some rest. Call Fulvia back.” 

He pauses, looks Haymitch dead in the eye. 

_“Trust me.”_

Haymitch nods, slowly. 

“I do.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


_“You,_ Mr. Abernathy, are nearly impossible to make plans with.” Fulvia Cardew huffs at him. Their meeting place is odd, a backroom of a restaurant with posters peeling off the walls. She presses a button on some hand-held device, and white noise fills the room.

Haymitch raises his eyebrows. “A lot of precautions for some run of the mill Feast talk.”

“Oh, the Feast is already planned and scheduled for tomorrow.” Fulvia waves him off. “No, I want to talk about the end of the Games.”

His interest - and wariness - is raised. “You mean, if Katniss and Peeta become Victors?”

Fulvia smiles at him, and she looks just as feral as any half-starved Seam child.

“No, Mr. Abernathy. I want to talk about _ending_ the Games.”

  
  


* * *

Finnick was right. People are _very_ excited about Katniss. And they will take so much more than just her innocence.

They will take her entire identity.

(Because it will keep her alive, Haymitch lets them.)

**Author's Note:**

> I do love fics that have Haymitch as being embroiled in the rebellion for a long time before Katniss and Peeta came along, but in my personal headcanon I see people like Plutarch maybe not seeing Haymitch as being useful, necessary, or trustworthy enough to risk bringing him into his underground operation. Because while Haymitch might be very clever and hate the Capitol, Plutarch would see the alcoholism as a problem when it comes to keeping rebel secrets. So in this verse, Finnick is in the loop before Haymitch is because he has Mags to vouch for him (although 'in the loop' doesn't mean he knows everything, because we know canonically that they were very careful with their information). 
> 
> Additionally, since Twelve was often seen as the 'joke district', Plutarch probably wouldn't put contacts in Twelve very high on his recruitment priority list. At least not until the 74th Games, when Katniss emerged as a unwitting rebel symbol, and Haymitch also proved both his cunning and was able to more or less keep his sobriety in order to help his tributes.
> 
> Anyway, none of that was actually relevant enough to put in the fic, but I just thought I'd explain because I know that I'm sort of going against a common trope here and I wanted to prove I have actually put thought into it lol.
> 
> I really want to write something about Katniss and Finnick, because I absolutely _adore_ their dynamic, but it's hard because obviously we already see so many of their scenes in the books and I prefer exploring the missing scenes versus rewriting canon from a different perspective. So for now until that inspiration strikes, you'll have to put up with my subtle allusions to their (in this fic, future) friendship because I have a lot of feelings about them that cannot be contained.


End file.
